“This is a f---ing sport just like the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, or any other sport,” White told reporters following Thursday’s UFC 157 pre-fight press conference. “The (comments) I was reading on Twitter, ‘This is a travesty,’ like the biggest f---ing tidal wave hit the most populated place on Earth and wiped out women, children and tons of innocent people. Give me a f---ing break. This is a sport just like any other sport.

“Any decision that you don’t like and you think is wrong, stupid and f---ed up, is me. Blame me. Don’t blame (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva or anyone else. Blame me.”

White raised eyebrows this past week when he cut the perennial welterweight contender following a unanimous-decision loss to Demian Maia at UFC 156 earlier this month.

Though Fitch is 1-2-1 in his last four outings, he is currently No. 9 in the UFC’s official welterweight rankings and holds a UFC record of 14-3-1.

White said the former welterweight title challenger was axed due to financial reasons. Though Fitch only received $66,000 show money for his loss to Maia, White doesn’t feel he’s worth the cash.

“First and foremost, don’t ever think that this isn’t a business,” White said. “No. 1, it is a business. No. 2, Jon Fitch makes a lot of money. He gets paid a lot of money and he’s on a skid, whether he’s ranked No. 9 in the world or not. It doesn’t mean that he’s still going to stick around here.

“You get in these situations sometimes. You go on a skid in this f---ing business, you’ve got to go. You’ve got to go win some fights and come back. It’s no different than it has ever been since day one in this company. When we cut a guy that’s ranked No. 9 it’s because he’s on his way down the ladder, not up the ladder.”

Though White feels justified in releasing Fitch, he admitted he was pleased by the number of fans who came to the fighter’s defence.

“The response Jon Fitch has had is awesome,” White said “I’m glad that many people are behind him and support him. That’s not a bad thing. Good for him. But I can tell you this: Jon Fitch isn’t cheap. Viacom MMA (Bellator) has some money. He can go out there on the free market and find out exactly what he’s worth.

“He went from No. 1 to No. 9 and he’s super f---ing expensive. He’ll end up somewhere and then he can come back.

“Watch what’s going to happen to Jon Fitch. He’s going to end up in Bellator or one of these other organizations and he’s going to win a world title. He’ll be a champion there. He will smash every single guy over there and he’ll be a champ.”

It’s hard to deny Fitch has struggled over the last two years. Prior to his current skid, he went 13-1 inside the octagon. His sole loss during this stretch was to welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

However, the decision to release him is curious when you consider some of the fighters who have remained on the roster. Dan Hardy suffered four straight defeats before returning to the win column this past May. Also, Leonard Garcia has gone 2-7-1 in his last 10 outings, with both victories coming as a result of controversial decisions.

White denied Fitch’s wrestling-oriented style played a role in his release. However, he admitted he stands by Hardy and Garcia because they put on exciting fights.

“You know what, Dan Hardy puts it out there all the time and we’re going to keep Dan Hardy,” White said. “I want to keep Dan Hardy. I want to keep Leonard Garcia because the guy’s got f---ing heart and he comes in and fights.

“It would be nice if you could just go lay on guys for three rounds and people would love it and want to buy all your pay-per-views. Welcome to the f---ing real world, guys. That’s not how it works.”

Though Fitch has made a career of out-wrestling opponents, he recently expressed a desire to provide more exciting fights. At UFC 153 in October he won fight of the night honours for his unanimous-decision victory over Erick Silva.

White admitted he enjoyed the fight, but said it was only entertaining because Silva managed to defend some of Fitch’s takedown attempts.

“He got fight of the night because it takes two guys to do that,” White said. “If Erick Silva’s wrestling wasn’t (up to par), that wouldn’t have been fight of the night. At the end of the day, when you break it down, (Fitch) hasn’t lost back-to-back, but who has Erick Silva beat? This was Erick Silva’s first real big fight and first real test.”

If fans were shocked by the release of 16 fighters, White said they should brace themselves because there are more firings on the way.

“Here’s another fact: we have 470 (plus) guys under contract,” White said. “We have over 100 guys too many on the roster right now. The blood has not all been spilled yet. There’s more coming.

UFC boss Dana White carved over cuts

“This is a f---ing sport just like the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, or any other sport,” White told reporters following Thursday’s UFC 157 pre-fight press conference. “The (comments) I was reading on Twitter, ‘This is a travesty,’ like the biggest f---ing tidal wave hit the most populated place on Earth and wiped out women, children and tons of innocent people. Give me a f---ing break. This is a sport just like any other sport.

“Any decision that you don’t like and you think is wrong, stupid and f---ed up, is me. Blame me. Don’t blame (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva or anyone else. Blame me.”